Trainee teachers at the University of Worcester have been given the opportunity to work with the National Football League (NFL) International to deliver its Flag Football programme.
The University is the first teacher training provider in the Country to be able to offer the programme to trainee teachers. The programme is active nationally across the UK and Ireland and is typically only available to qualified teachers working in schools.
Students studying on the University’s PGCE Secondary PE course will benefit from a new partnership with the NFL.
Senior Lecturer in Secondary and Post Compulsory Education PE, David Woodward said: “As part of the University’s PGCE Secondary PE course, we are committed to sourcing the best quality training and opportunities for our students. We firmly believe that our PGCE in Physical Education is inclusive, forward thinking and dynamic and we want to train our students to be employable above others, by having skills and experiences that others may not possess.”
“The objective of this partnership is to bring the NFL Flag programme to schools via our teacher training programme,” he added.
NFL Flag is a non-contact version of American Football. Its aim is to help develop the character of children by focusing on the NFL core values of Respect, Integrity, Resilience and Responsibility. It also focuses on improving young people’s nutritional knowledge and understanding of the importance of getting active, whilst helping them learn how to play NFL Flag.
This initiative comes as the University has been shortlisted for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards and, earlier this year, was ranked first in the UK for Quality Education in the inaugural Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings.
It is hope that through the partnership, PGCE students will bring their placement schools together in a regional tournament. Schools involved in the local tournament may then have the opportunity to attend the end of season national tournament, the NFL Flag National Championships, held every July in London.
Mr Woodward said: “We think that this is a fantastic opportunity to create a partnership and spread the NFL message across a wide range of schools across local counties. By training our future PE teachers before they are placed in schools and start their career, they are already influenced by the potential of Flag Football.”